After crashing my plane into the aircraft carrier for the fourteenth time I decided to go back and play through Rogue Ace’s tutorial again.

In any other mode – frontline campaign or arcade – the taking off and landing is down to nudging the right stick with subtle touches. Holding up will accelerate the plane simply enough. Once in the air, movement is focused on the left stick and speed control stays with the right stick.

When it comes to landing, the speed must be lowered gently, the angle of the plane needs to be correct and only then will the plane glide to a stop before overshooting the runway, allowing repairs and ammo refills.

Not plane sailing

The controls are intuitive after a short time and easily become second nature and any difficulty begins to fall into the background, bringing the combat to a focal point.